Jamel Sawyer is used to being on the move. The 20-year-old Norwalker covered plenty of ground as a running back for the Stamford High School Black Knights football team.

And, despite being diagnosed last year with C-7 spinal cord injury following an infection, Sawyer isn't letting his wheelchair slow him down.

"I feel more motivated than ever before," he said. "This is my new life, and I don't want anybody to feel the way I felt before."

Sawyer's health problems began three months ago after he strained his back at work. At first, his symptoms were mild -- slight numbing in the legs and a little pinch in the back -- but they quickly got worse.

He was admitted to Norwalk Hospital on Nov. 11, 2010, after he developed a temperature of 104 degrees and lost all feeling in his legs. At the hospital, doctors discovered Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection, which is caused by a strain of staph bacteria that's become resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat ordinary staph infections.

Doctors conducted an MRI and found that the staph infection had created a 4-centimeter long mass on his spinal cord, which they immediately removed due to the possibility that the cyst could rupture.

Sawyer emerged from surgery still without the ability to use his legs.

His half-sister, Davida Lara, said she was told by her brother's doctors that Sawyer likely contracted the staph infection in the community. He has severe eczema on his hands, and the bacteria is spread by skin-to-skin contact, she said.

But the hardest part about the ordeal was hearing that her brother might never walk again.

"It hit us like a ton of bricks," she said. "We couldn't even fathom that something like that could happen."

Lara said she has always shared a deep connection with her half-brother. The two share the same father, but Lara, 38, has been Sawyer's legal guardian since he was 5 years old.

She pulled him off the streets of Brooklyn, N.Y., and brought him to Connecticut shortly after taking a job for a record company in Stamford.

"I always told him that I would come back and get him, and I did," she said.

The pair have faced similar adversities. They were both born to drug-addicted parents and have had overcome difficult childhoods. Lara believes that it's been her life's purpose to "pay it forward" through Sawyer.

"Jamel is going to do the same for someone else one day," she said. "I think he will prove to be an inspiration and will give someone else a reason to keep going. God didn't bring us this far to leave us, so we are confident that his story doesn't end here. He's got his whole life ahead of him."

Sawyer is currently studying physical therapy at Norwalk Community College, but he plans to change his major to business. He hopes to one day open his own wheelchair sports clinic to empower handicapped individuals through faith and athletics.

"I would love to walk again, but I'm not even worried about that," he said.

Getting around has been a challenge for Sawyer, and so have his medical expenses.

Lara, who lives on Spring Hill Avenue with Sawyer, her two daughters and husband Mark, said the family has covered more than $17,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses, including a costly flight to Atlanta where Sawyer received his rehabilitation treatment.

She is seeking donations from the community, and plans to launch a fundraiser to make her Spring Hill Avenue home handicap accessible. To donate, e-mail donations via paypal to Jamelsawyer@aol.com, or send checks to Jamel Sawyer at 9 Spring Hill Ave., Norwalk, CT 06850.